I’ll keep this short and sweet, but I would first like to
extend a big “thank you” to Mike for letting me give
this idea a chance to breathe on the site and to each of my readers
for showing your appreciation with more complimentary e-mails than
I will bother to count. I hope one of the two boards I’m about
to share with you will allow you to get a head start on your competition
and be the first of many steps you take to a fantasy title this
season.

Before I get to the boards, though, I would like to forewarn
each of my readers about the rankings and subsequent place on
the board. Much as I explained with Plaxico Burress in Part
III of the PSAs, I will push a player down my tiering board
as well as my top 100 board if I cannot trust him to stay healthy
all season. If you take the time to tear down each position I
provide below, you will notice that I don’t follow the point
totals or averages to a tee.

Outside of trust issues, I will push a player down my board –
despite a higher average or overall point total – if I believe
he will simply be more consistent throughout the season or if
his playoff schedule appears treacherous – if Dallas didn’t
have such a good run-blocking line, I would be looking right at
Marion Barber. I offer this explanation to make sure none of my
readers will be misled by my rankings.

Given Saturday’s cuts, I essentially plugged Chris Perry
into Rudi Johnson’s old spot for both PPR and non-PPR leagues.
The risk that comes with his injury may be counterbalanced by
his ability to catch the ball and make the explosive plays that
Johnson really never gave the Bengals.

Obviously, Chad Johnson is ranked about as low here as he is
on this site (or any other one for that matter). While Kellen
Winslow played with a similar injury last year, he also did not
make a living of leaping for all that many high passes either.
At this point, given the reported severity of his injury and the
nature in which he plays the game, I would view him as an extremely
high-risk #2 WR and no more. (Then again, he is feeling good enough
to get his name changed, so maybe the injury isn’t so bad
after all…)

If Kurt
Warner and Matt
Leinart are both available late and roster limits are such
that a drafter can keep three QBs on the roster, do whatever you
can to select both. HC Ken Whisenhunt seems intent on keeping
Leinart in the QB conversation even though he named Warner the
starter, but by holding both QBs on your team, you should be able
get #1 QB production from a late draft pick, given the quality
of Arizona’s receiving corps. In this scenario, his owners will
be protecting themselves against the inevitable Warner injury
and/or Leinart letdown.

I feel an additional explanation should be provided for Josh
Morgan and Bryant Johnson. Since HC Mike Nolan (or OC Mike Martz)
has yet to name a starter at the spot that Torry Holt long occupied
in Martz’s offense, the player that ends up becoming the
starter should be thought of as no lower than a #4 WR to start
the season with very high upside potential. I’m still banking
on Morgan winning the job, but if the two receivers end up sharing
the job, they both could end up in the 50-catch neighborhood.

Lastly, Chris
Taylor is my wild-card to wind up with the most production
out of the Houston Texans’ backfield. The coaching staff has continuously
raved about him since last season. If/when Ahman
Green succumbs to injury, I would expect Taylor to be the
biggest beneficiary, with rookie Steve
Slaton taking about 30% of the carries and most of the third-down
work.